


To the moon

by Space_Hawk



Series: Inktober 2020 [16]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Emotional Hurt, F/M, Gen, I'm Bad At Summaries, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kinda?, Minor Sokka/Suki, Past Sokka/Yue (Avatar), Protective Sokka (Avatar), She turned into the moon spirit so I don't know if that would technically count as character death, Sokka (Avatar)-centric, Sokka misses yue, Trauma, and wants to see her again, but obviously being Sokka, so his genius brain got to word, the dude wouldn't give himself a break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27054349
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Space_Hawk/pseuds/Space_Hawk
Summary: Late one night, Sokka has an idea for a new invention that'll let him see Yue again. So of course, he can't stop until he makes it.Inktober Day 16: Rocket
Series: Inktober 2020 [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950592
Comments: 1
Kudos: 19





	To the moon

It was the middle of the night but Sokka suddenly sat bolt upright in his bedroll. No one else around him had stirred and Suki still snored lightly besides him.

“Holy shit,” he whispered to himself as the idea became clearer and clearer in his mind. 

Quickly, but quietly he dislodged himself from the pile of sleeping bodies surrounding him and grabbed some spare paper from their supplies. Then, he made his way to one of the empty rooms at the abandoned Air Temple.

“I’m coming Yue,” Sokka muttered under his breath as he got to work under the faint light of a candle.

Katara found her brother there the next morning, sunlight streaming in through the open-air window and a small glob of rehardened wax where there once had been a candle. Sokka was surrounded by paper and still scribbling fervently on one of them. 

“What is all of this,” she asked, glancing down at one of the papers and not understanding a word of what was written on it. 

“Had an idea late last night and couldn’t let it slip away. It’s a good one, ok?” There was a half-crazed expression on his face and Katara noticed dark circles under his eyes, but she knew better than to argue within him when he got like this. Sometimes her brother got an idea and couldn’t let it go until he saw it through. 

So Katara left him alone, only returning periodically to bring him food, though it remained untouched on the desk.

“Ok, that’s enough!” Katara said as she returned late that evening, her mothering instincts coming out in full force. The pile of papers had continued to grow and from what she could tell Sokka hadn’t moved from his seat all day. “You need to eat and you need to sleep. Whatever project you’re working on can’t be that important.”

“But Katara, I’m so close!” Sokka replied without looking up from his paper. His voice was frantic with a hint of desperation.

“Uh-uh, you can keep working on it tomorrow.” Noticing he was about to argue more, Katara grabbed the paper he was writing on, forcing him to finally look up. “And you can have this back tomorrow. After you’ve slept,” she added with a knowing glare.

Sokka’s shoulders slumped and he sighed, but he didn’t argue.

However, when he tried to fall asleep, his brain, racing a thousand miles a minute, wouldn’t let him. Thoughts about his invention and what he needed to do to make it work kept swirling around in his head, making sleeping sleep impossible. 

So the night was spent tossing and turning and at the first hint of sunlight streaming through the clouds, Sokka was back in the room, writing fiercely to incorporate all the ideas his brain had come up with while everyone else slept.

The day passed similarly to the last. Aang worked on his firebending training with Zuko. Suki sparred with Katara and Toph while Hakoda and Chit Sang watched. And Haru, Teo, and the Duke explored the air temple. All while Sokka was holed up in the room, growing increasingly frustrated.

“Why won’t this work!” he muttered angrily, crunching up the paper and beginning his calculations again. He didn’t understand - this should be working.

Katara still brought him food that went largely untouched, but when she came to fetch him for bed, he didn’t even argue. 

Except today, Sokka didn’t wait until the sun had risen to return to his work. Knowing his mind was too wired to sleep, he grabbed his papers from Katara, who had confiscated them again, the moment she was asleep.

“This should be working! Why won’t it work!” Sokka muttered under his breath as he crumpled up his most recent paper and angrily threw it against the wall. “I have to make this work. I have to see her again.”

He was just about to start another sheet of paper when a bright light appeared, floating outside the window just below the nearly full moon.

“Hello Sokka,” a familiar voice said. 

Sokka rubbed his eyes, certain he was finally losing it, but the woman before him remained, long white hair and flowing robes gracefully swirling around her.

“Holy shit. Yue? Is that you?” Sokka asked, still not believing what he saw.

“Yes, Sokka. It’s me,” her ethereal form said with a laugh. 

“But-but how? And why? And-” he stammered, only to be silenced when he placed a finger to his lips.

“I’ve been watching you and I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but your friends are worried about you. I’m worried about you.”

“But this was going to take me to the moon.” Sokka sadly stared down at his papers before looking back at Yue. “To you.” Yue’s smile was gentle, but bittersweet.

“The world isn’t ready for such an ingenious invention.” Sokka was silent for a moment.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you,” he whispered.

“I choose to do my duty - for my people and the rest of the world. I don’t regret my decision.” She took his hand and gave it a small squeeze. “But remember that I will always be with you.”

And with that, her form faded away against the bright light of the moon hanging in the night sky.

The next morning, Katara and the others found him still sitting at his desk, but now he only stared dejectedly down at the papers instead of frantically scribbling on them.

“I called it a rocket,” Sokka said to confusion on their faces, not looking up from the abandoned calculations and diagrams. “It was going to take me to the moon.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm of the firm belief that Sokka is at least a little adhd and once he gets an idea in his head, he can't stop until he finishes it. Or, at least until his friends tell him he needs to breath lol
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and as always, kudos and comments are appreciated :)


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